Dave's Comeback From Surgery To Elite Performance [CASE STUDY]

Welcome back to another case study episode brought to you by Trivelo Coaching. Now, today's case study story isn't our typical case of a marathon PB or an FT improvement, which is all unreal results to see in our case studies, but it's actually an athlete who really was one of the top level masters athletes in Australia. Previous 2 times Australian Masters champion in the time trial. But more than that, whose time trial ability was actually competitive with Australia's elite athletes when they were in their peak form. But this athlete suffered years of injury setbacks and frustration over the last three or four years and he basically had to start again from rock bottom. And after honestly feeling like he was thinking about just giving up on the bike entirely, this athlete found his motivation and love again for cycling this year. And even still, when you find that love and motivation again, when you're an athlete of that caliber, it's so tough and mentally humbling to start from scratch again. And we really want to highlight this story because we know so many athletes out there go through similar setbacks and the journey back can sometimes feel insurmountable, let alone very humbling and lonely. So as always with our case studies, we'll go through where they were, where they are now, the results they've posted and how they did it. So dad, take us through this athlete, what happened to them that put them so far backwards injury wise? Let's talk through kind of the injuries that happened and where they were starting from.

Yeah, and look, most athletes will go through some injury at some point in time during their career and unfortunately this was self inflicted injury. This was riding out to the Dandenongs one day and a tradie turning right in front of him, basically just running, ran straight into him and, and did all sorts of damage to him. And the fact that he didn't get killed on that particular day was almost a miracle. So that's how, how bad the accident was. And there was so many things that were damaged in his body from that day that have had an impact from that point, from that point forward to today. I'm not exactly sure of the date of that, but it was significantly around the time when he was actually riding at his, at his peak, peak performance. And you know, as we all do when things are going well, you look at what, what's next for me and where do you, where do I think I can be in another six months or a year? And the, it was, you know, it was looking good. If you're looking through glasses, you would say this is A good outcome that's going to happen in the next two or three years. And already he'd been very successful until that point and was, you know, contemplating doing something against the elite riders of the world. So. So it was a quite a really debilitating accident that he had. And the comeback from that was, well, can I actually get on the bike again? It wasn't a case of, you know, how good can I get again? It was actually, can I ride again? And, and that was one of the things that we had long discussions about over the. The next few ensuing months about where. What. What does it look like? What do we. What do. Are you willing to go from rock bottom? Because the recovery period was quite significant amount of time and ended up having a back operation at that time. And as I'm well aware of, and our listeners are well aware of now that I've just gone through that myself and I understand where he's come from. So that set up, if you can understand where this person has come from to where they are now.

Yeah. And it kind of just, the next few years just was a constant cycle of getting back on the bike, finding some, you know, finding some motiv activation again, getting a little bit of consistency. But then these back problems, some, some nerve issues, sciatica issues just kept popping up and just, it was debilitating because you might start to feel good again and feel no pain and then you'd kind of start to improve and then it would just come back and it would just, it would just seem back to square one. And when that just happens so consistently, you just lose more and more motivation each time. That happened over literally a few year period. And then that took us kind of the next major setback when you started to really, you know, find some form again. And I mean, take us through that.

From that car accident. Every time he started to do some intensity in terms of races and test himself, he would end up cramping in his hamstring. And this was happening almost all the time. He'd get into great positions and then he'd get a severe cramp. And it was absolutely related to the crash that he had with the car. And he just hadn't been able to recover in that weakness that he got from that period off the bike. And that's something he had to really work at. And so. So we were getting somewhere, but we weren't. We were getting really fit. But the high intensity he couldn't do because he kept continually cramping. And it was more than a cramp, it was Just, you know, am I going to tear my hamstring sort of feeling. So I'm really setting the scene for everybody to understand how low a point that, that he got to. And then once he started to start overcoming that after the operation, so that was never going to be fixed unless he got it operated on. So that's what he decided to do. And then it was a matter of rehabbing again from a low point. So we decided there was no point in putting himself into race situations again until we fixed the issue of the muscle really giving way when he put the body through the intensity of a race.

And that came after years of relentless physio sessions, osteo sessions, whatever, any specialist you can think of going to, trying to fix it, all these other ways. And then resulted in surgery and then again, once again start to come back and coincident or ironically, as you just said in a time trial, performance standardized time trial, we do ended up on the ground, crashed again, but this time hurt his elbow so bad and that required surgery. So just another, just another thing in this story where it's just another major setback and you can just see how these relentless beat downs can, can get you down mentally and just make you feel like giving up.

And that's the message. One of the messages from this particular case study is that, you know, watch the song. I get knocked down and I get back up again. That is, this is an example of the relentlessness of absolutely being torn from pillar to post. And I just love the fact that through all that, he's just kept a steady, a steady mind and, and, and had to concentrate on, well, do I want to continue and start again or, or have I had enough and just, just become a bike rider and, and enjoy my bike riding. Because he does love riding his bike. That's, that's one of the points. But he still feels like there's unfinished business. And that's the driving motivator for him at the moment. And that's the part I love. He had to come to that decision himself and reach out to say, no, take me to the next level. I'm willing to do whatever it takes. I want to get back to where I was and see if I can. And I want to actually go through the process of starting from scratch and building my fitness to a point where I'm really happy and I'm getting some enjoyment back out of racing again. And that's kind of where we're at right now. Yeah.

And it's been probably five months of really, really good consistent training. Before that, it was just kind of that build back up, starting from scratch. I just want to ask you, you know, how, how do you, how does that cope with that, you know, mentally, just when you've been so good before and you know what your level was and then you really have to be humbled and just start from, you know, for him, he's, he's a 350 to 400 watt rider, you know, over these kind of time trial events and he's barely riding 200 watts to start with, you know, and it's the same as you and your story. You've given the last four just having to ignore what you were before and go, this is where I'm at now and this is what I have to ride to.

And look, not only through this particular athlete we're talking about, but many of the athletes that I coach and I was just having a conversation with one of them yesterday, they're coming up for a 20 minute FTP test today. And this is another example of this rider that I'm going to talk about now was a really good time trialist and hasn't been able to train the way he wanted to in over a year. And he's asking me questions about, you know, this is my plan for the FTP test. Do you think that's right? And I had to say to him, you know, forget about what you've been able to do before. Let's just, let's just not think like that. Let's think about where you are right now. And that's the good thing that Rossi did. He, as much as it frustrated him, he did not flinch when he's going to have to try and write a 20 minute test. And that's what we had to do. We had to start with a test to see where his basic fitness level was at rock bottom. And, you know, no different to what I had to go through. You have to start and train to the number you're at and that it, that takes, you have to take the ego out of everything there, because that's not what I can do, that's not what I'm used to. They're the numbers that I want to see. And all of a sudden if you try to ride to your old numbers, you're going to fail every single training session. And that's obvious. But people don't see it as obvious. They just think, this is what I can and should be able to do and therefore I'm going to ride to those numbers and actually blow up after eight minutes in a 20 minute test and say something wrong with me. I hate, hate testing and using all the excuses that are completely irrelevant to the fact that you need to actually train and do this test to your current form. And that is the message that people need to hear.

So where is he at now? What's, what's happened over the last five, six months of training and what are the results he's had? And this is the reason we're recording this now is because on the weekend, I mean his journey isn't finished. You know, this isn't his a race, He's a race, he's coming over the next three or four months. We want to talk about this now because on the weekend he just posted a time trial, 15 seconds of his all time best and his all time best was back in 2020. But he, he posted a. Yeah, a time of 21:56 for this time trial which is his previous best was 21:40, so 16 seconds. Sorry. And again comparing time trial to time trial, we don't know what the conditions of the day were back in 2020 because yeah, it was, the date was November 2020. We don't know exactly what the conditions were but regardless he's posted his power getting up there and close to back to his best and the time was the main thing and that's just an indication of how much he's gotten himself back to form and even the improvement over the last month. You know, a month ago did this time trial and he's wiped off 48 seconds. I think since that time trial three weeks ago his power's gone from 350 to 354 to 362 across three tests over the last, sorry, I should say six weeks. So that just gives an indication as to, as to him finding his form again.

Yeah, and there's so much you can dig out of the, the last month and that, that last month or six weeks actually has been a result of six months of hard work and, and starting from scratch and just training to the numbers that, that are relevant to you at the time and continuing to improve your aerobic endurance by going out and doing some, some longer rides, focusing on one session at a time, doing the high intensity at your level, doing the Zone 2 stuff where you've just got to get out there and get the kilometers into your legs, get your body used to that, build your aerobic fitness. We've also done some in intense racing on our Trivalo race schedule of eight to 10 weeks of Thursday night races. So the intensity has had competition There's a whole lot of examples of things that have, that have helped him continue to improve his form and that would be normal for any athlete. But I want to highlight this with this particular athlete because he was at the pointy end. He wasn't an everyday average age grouper. He was national champion as a time trialist. And you know that as an age grouper that's still, that's still an excellent feat. But on the days of those races he was the fastest person on the day and that's against the best time trials in Australia. So no matter what your age was on that day, as a master's rider, he recorded the fastest time. That's actually more probably important him than winning the national Masters time trial gold medal. Being the fastest rider on the day is what he's always trying to achieve.

So to clarify with masters it's age group based. So it's. You're saying that the age group metal wasn't as significant as the fact that across all age groups he was the fastest of the day.

That's right. So these are the things that we're really trying to compare against so that we can compare apples with apples to see where he is. And all the time we want to analyze data to feel and find out how we tracking compared to what you were doing before. So a person who's at the pointy end of the, of the spectrum of racing, you would expect the improvement to be really insignificant, minor improvements. And of course we see a huge difference between what he did on the 30th of July. As an example, he rode 22 minutes 44 and then on the 20th of August he rode 22 minutes 27 and then on the 3rd of September he rode 21:56. That is significant in six weeks for a person who is riding 45 or 46ks an hour. You know, it's on the same course. It's not like we're comparing a different course on a different bike or it's we're comparing apples with apples. The only difference would be the conditions on the day would be a slight variation. And that's what I want, I want to make sure the listeners are understanding that to get reference we need to understand we need to compare apples with apples all the time. And this is a perfect scenario that we've got in front of us.

And I love your point that you know, that is the improvement over the last six weeks is the result of the five to six months of hard work. You know, you started time trial again and that first One may be a bit rusty. Maybe you're just getting used to it again, just getting used to that execution, getting used to, you know, those racing environment, that time trial environment. So this improvement isn't just about the fitness gain, it's a combination of everything. It's all that aerobic work coming through, it's that execution practice, it's getting used to that race specific intensity again. And that's resulted in, yeah, posting a time that's 15 or 16 seconds off his all time best. So everyone always wants to know what training did you do? And I want you to kind of touch on a bit more specifically with the sessions. But this case study, the training is less important. The point we're really trying to hit home and talk about with this specific case study is the impressive feat of having to start from rock bottom, having to be patient, having to accept where you're at and just getting that consistency back, finding that love and motivation back and working from there to get yourself back to elite level of riding, which is 45, 46Ks an hour.

Yeah, there's a lot I could say about how we got there. The main point is that he's chipped away at each session every day and barely missed. That's the key. And of course that's consistency. And whatever topic we talk about, we always come back to that fact. If you can remain consistent throughout the process, then the opportunities for your improvement are so much more able to be seen, you know, in front of your face. If you have periods of inconsistency and we've got athletes in that same race who on form, and then they've had a week of sickness or they went to the snow or whatever happened, they trained inconsistently for a period of 7 to 15 days and all of a sudden their times have gone backwards. And we want to analyze and look for reasons and that's clear to them. They know what's going on. And the reason why Rossi's been able to get to this point is because he's been able to maintain that level of fit. He knows the sessions he needs to do that are going to get him to the point where he's going to start getting fitter than he has been before. And those key sessions have not changed in three or four years. They are doing that endurance ride, getting the strength in your legs by training in the hills, by not flogging yourself in those sessions, but just by being out there for an accumulated period of time. So you're building that aerobic base, that zone two effort plus you're getting the strength from riding up and down hills. And then those midweek stuff where we're really putting some strength efforts into his sessions with some threshold at strength, and then some VO2 stuff where we're really revving the legs at high cadence and getting the heart rate to really be stimulated. And he's doing those numbers at the right number, not numbers that are fictitious. He's doing them all at the right number. And he's religiously tested himself every third or fourth week so that he knows that the numbers are changing and he's on top of all of that. And the other key session is that sweet spot.

Right.

Where so we all the time think of this session as, oh, boy, it's so hard because it's just under threshold and it's above zone two. But that is a key component of improvement. I've seen that so many times. People who can master that session, they will actually become the better threshold rider that they want to be. And whether that's in a race where you've broken away and you have to ride threshold to the end of the race for five or six minutes, you've got that piece of armoury available to you, or whether you're a time trialist and you want to actually improve your time trialing. So we know the key sessions that work for all the athletes we coach. It's just a matter of those people being able to implement them into their program and remaining consistent as possible and obviously measuring how they're going at certain key dates along that journey. Yeah.

And I want to read out a little quote from him. I asked him if it's okay if we do this case study on him. He doesn't like the limelight. He said, sure, but he just wanted to make sure we got one request across, which was he just said the recovery from the broken elbow and surgeries has been one thing, but the back surgery and sciatic nerve issues has really given me a second life and appreciation for cycling. I just want to give a little shout out to Wangy the surgeon, who is also actually your surgeon dad, as well as you dad, for your support. He said, I would have racked the bikes years ago if it wasn't for them. So that's a nice little shout out there. But that's. That's a good summary of this case study. Is there any other point you want to make to finish off?

No. And as I've said, when I've been talking about my own journey, I probably haven't said enough about the value of a guy like Mr. Ian Wang, who I happen to coach. The job he did with both Rossi and I has been remarkable, and we're really very grateful that we've actually know this person. It's almost a gratitude here. But, yeah, so, you know, you do need help when you're trying to come back from whatever scenario you're in, reach out to others to get help, because you can't do it by yourself. It is so much easier to share what's going on. And there will be, no matter who you're talking to, whether you think they're going to be able to contribute to your improvement or not. You never know unless you actually talk about things and finding out. You know, this is a classic example of reaching out to me when he was. When he was just questioning whether this is what he wants to do, and I'm asking him questions back. Are you still loving bike riding? Do you still want to race? Do you still want to pin and number on? And if he's hesitating with that, then, you know, it's easy decision. Don't go down that track. Stay with just riding your bike to keep yourself fit. But that's not what happened. And that's the beauty of having people to reach out to. And then you can make decisions based on actually, do I really want to do this? And believe me, the minutes taken away from you, then you realize whether you do want it or not or you don't want it as desperately as you think. And I think an example for you would be when you've been traveling recently when you haven't had a bike, and there's been periods where far out, it'd be great to ride my bike around this particular region of the world that I'm on, but you don't have the bike with you, so you've got no choice. And it's the same with being injured or ill. The minute those things are taken away from you, then you get a newfound love of, gee, I actually do love doing that, and I can't wait to when I'm healthy again, to get back into it. And I think the example we're trying to use here for Rossi is for all those age groupers out there who are going to go through periods of sickness, of injury, of hopefully not, you know, being hit by cars, but similar issues, roadblocks that are put in front of you that cause you to have inconsistency and not achieve the goals you're trying to do. This was two or three years worth of being knocked back, knocked down, and getting back up. That's the point I want to make. That's a sign of resilience of someone who really does love what they're doing. And that's why we're bringing it up now, because it's been such a long journey and I'm absolutely so proud of the way he's gone about getting himself back to the athlete that he wants to be. And as he said, the journey's not finished yet. He feels there's a lot more to give. And the fact that he's, you know, some of the examples we gave one of the particular races we do, he's almost that close to the numbers that he's able to do two or three years ago when he was at his peak, and now he's nearly there. And it's. It's a great story.

Yeah, it really is. And we'll give you an update over the next three or four months when he hits his A race and how he goes there. But after the weekend's performance, we really want to highlight this, and we hope it's encouraging for you. We hope it's motivating because that's. It was really motivating for us to see and watch. So that's it for this case study, and we'll see you on the next episode.